Dark Blue

Ron Shelton has written and directed a string of the best sports films ever made. They include famous ones such as the sexy, elegiac baseball classic Bull Durham, the raffish street-basketball smash White Men Can't Jump and the slapstick golf romance Tin Cup. But just as good or better is the barely released boxing comedy-drama Play It to the Bone - a movie that if made by a Frenchman like Bertrand Blier, would have been hailed as a daring look at the...

Baltimore County police announced yesterday that they are searching for an armed female police impersonator who stopped and robbed a commuter in Arbutus. Police say a man told them he was stopped shortly after 9 a.m. Dec. 18 near Washington Boulevard and Commerce Drive by a woman he believed was a police officer driving a royal blue Chevrolet Malibu with a flashing red light on the dashboard. The woman asked for his driver's license and registration, the man told police. When he told her he did not have the identification with him, she demanded a $25 fine and that he could do it "the easy way or the hard way," officials said.

Q:--I am in a service industry (bus driver) and wear uniform-type clothing for my work. For most social occasions, a tweed jacket with trousers is OK, or for slightly dressier occasions, I own a blue blazer and gray slacks. I am 40 years old and have never owned a suit, never really needed one. However, I'd like to own one good suit for that possible really special occasion. I've decided on the traditional single-breasted, non-trendy, business cut, in 100 percent wool.For the one-suit man, would you recommend plain navy, navy pinstripe, plain gray (dark)

Michael Sragow has been a film critic for publications in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. He has written on movies for The New Yorker since 1989 and has been a film critic and editor for Rolling Stone. He came to the Sun in 2001 from Salon.com, where for two years he wrote a movie column on films and filmmakers. baltimoresun.com: Welcome. Thank you for joining us to talk about Sunday's Oscars ceremony. Michael Sragow: Good to be here again -- a month earlier than usual!

POLICE LOG* Dorsey's Search: 4700 block of Dorsey Hall Drive: A dark blue, four-door 1991 Honda Accord EX with a sunroof was stolen from outside the Dorsey's Search Giant supermarket Monday morning -- 10 minutes after the owner went inside to buy bread. The car's Maryland plates are ZAE-317.

In Baltimore's suburbs, police officers have found that survival depends not only on who is the fittest, but also on who is best-dressed for the job.Police in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties have, in recent months, followed the lead of Baltimore City police and switched from bright white uniform shirts to dark blue ones. Some Howard County officers, who wear a light blue uniform shirt, say they also want to go over to shirts on the dark side.The issue is convenience and safety -- white shirts make an easy target at night.

A West Baltimore man was robbed of $25 shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said.The victim told police he was waiting at a shuttle bus stop in the 8500 block of Pioneer Drive in Severn when a man pushed a blue steel revolver into his side and said, "This is a stickup."The gunman took $25 from the victim's pocket and ran west on Pioneer Drive.Police are looking for a dark-skinned, clean-shaven black male, 5-feet 8-inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a dark blue ski-type jacket, dark blue or black pants and a dark blue skull cap that was rolled up.POLICE LOG* Crofton: Someone stole a diamond tennis bracelet and a pair of diamond earrings worth $3,345 from a home in the 2200 block of Motley Lane.

Police are looking for two youths in the gang beating and robbery of another youth at a Royal Farm store in Columbia's Oakland Mills village Friday, police said.The incident took place about about 11:30 p.m., when the 18-year-old victim left the store in the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road and was approached by the two youths who asked him for a cigarette. The two then pulled the man around the corner of the building, where he was beaten by eight to 10 other youths.One of the two youths who first confronted the victim was described as a thin, 5-foot-4-inch, black male about 17 years old with short hair and a dark complexion.

They say sports fans are fickle.But some might say Baltimore Blast fans are colorblind. More than 70 percent of the 4,000 Blast fans who responded to a survey last season said the team's bright red and yellow uniforms "were bland, needed more color and a change in design."So, owner Ed Hale decided to give the fans the new look they wanted.Out with the "bland" red and yellow that had survived the first 10 years of the franchise, and in with a dark blue and light gray uniform that public relations director Drew Forrester said reminds him of the Dallas Cowboys' uniforms.

If the Major Soccer League can change its name, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Blast is changing its colors.Color the team blue and gray beginning today. Gone are the colors of red, yellow, orange and white -- except in the team logo, which will continue to be the exploding soccer ball. The Blast has been identified by those colors for all of its 10 years, just as the league has been known as the Major Indoor Soccer League for its 12 seasons.The new uniforms were to be on display this morning during a news conference at the Blast offices in Canton.

Most nights, Chelliah Johnson or a co-worker would pick up dinner at a Chinese restaurant across Route 198 from the Laurel motel where they worked the overnight shift. Sunday was Johnson's turn. About 9 p.m., he headed out on foot, a departure from his usual drive across the busy road from the Red Carpet Inn to the Chung King restaurant. Anne Arundel County police are searching for two drivers suspected of racing through Laurel and killing Johnson in what they described as one of the most gruesome hit-and-runs in recent memory.

Ron Shelton has written and directed a string of the best sports films ever made. They include famous ones such as the sexy, elegiac baseball classic Bull Durham, the raffish street-basketball smash White Men Can't Jump and the slapstick golf romance Tin Cup. But just as good or better is the barely released boxing comedy-drama Play It to the Bone - a movie that if made by a Frenchman like Bertrand Blier, would have been hailed as a daring look at the...

Fortunately, proms aren't populated by Southern-belle dresses and powder-blue tuxes anymore, but there are almost too many choices today. How do you decide? Macy's offers these suggestions -- both conservative and contemporary -- to help young women figure out what's hot for prom 2002. Take a look: Style -- Traditional ball gowns and romantic floor-length dresses are still the rage, but a new offering this season suits the urban sophisticate: feminine, fitted tuxedos in dramatic black, cream or silver.

A girl whose cheeks are covered with paint Has an advantage with me over one whose ain't. -- Ogden Nash The natural look: Who needs it? Pale cheeks, stringy hair, flawed complexions -- leave those for the women of Survivor. For the rest of us, bring on the goods: colored powders, volumizing sprays, creamy foundations -- all of the potions and paints that turn women into Picassos. This fall, our palette is the stuff of masterpieces -- lots of deep, dark shades of purple, burgundy, charcoal and red. "We're calling it the downtown-luxe look," says Molly Nover, beauty editor at Sephora.

Kai E.F. Hansen is one of a vanishing breed of independent tugboat owner-operators doing business in the waters of the Port of Baltimore. Mid-morning Thursday, a persistent chilly northwest wind buffeted his tug. The Athena, with its gray and white superstructure and blue stack, was docked at a weed-strewn Thames Street pier in Fells Point with an empty 195-foot gray barge on its hip. Hansen, sitting in a comfortable chair in the warm, wood-paneled main...

Howard County police are investigating the armed robbery of a High's Store at 7600 block of Murray Hill Road in Columbia. Police said two masked men entered the store about 9:50 p.m. Tuesday and confronted the clerk, who was alone. One of the men pulled out a small revolver and demanded money. The clerk gave him an undisclosed amount of cash, and the robbers took several packs of cigarettes before fleeing toward Vollmerhausen Road. No one was injured. One robber was described as black, in his mid- to late 20s, 5 feet 6 with a medium build and wearing a dark blue sweat shirt, jeans and a black ski mask.

Howard County police are investigating the armed robbery of a High's Store at 7600 block of Murray Hill Road in Columbia. Police said two masked men entered the store about 9:50 p.m. Tuesday and confronted the clerk, who was alone. One of the men pulled out a small revolver and demanded money. The clerk gave him an undisclosed amount of cash, and the robbers took several packs of cigarettes before fleeing toward Vollmerhausen Road. No one was injured. One robber was described as black, in his mid- to late 20s, 5 feet 6 with a medium build and wearing a dark blue sweat shirt, jeans and a black ski mask.

Baltimore County police announced yesterday that they are searching for an armed female police impersonator who stopped and robbed a commuter in Arbutus. Police say a man told them he was stopped shortly after 9 a.m. Dec. 18 near Washington Boulevard and Commerce Drive by a woman he believed was a police officer driving a royal blue Chevrolet Malibu with a flashing red light on the dashboard. The woman asked for his driver's license and registration, the man told police. When he told her he did not have the identification with him, she demanded a $25 fine and that he could do it "the easy way or the hard way," officials said.

In Baltimore's suburbs, police officers have found that survival depends not only on who is the fittest, but also on who is best-dressed for the job.Police in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties have, in recent months, followed the lead of Baltimore City police and switched from bright white uniform shirts to dark blue ones. Some Howard County officers, who wear a light blue uniform shirt, say they also want to go over to shirts on the dark side.The issue is convenience and safety -- white shirts make an easy target at night.

Majs. Frank and Louise Gordon raise their index fingers to heaven one last time Sunday and say goodbye to 84 combined years in the Salvation Army.The gesture is an old greeting among Salvation Army believers, declining in use at the same time the Gordons have observed the institutions of family and community declining.Since they began in the 1950s, the Gordons' trek has taken them through 15 towns and cities in the United States, winding up in Baltimore, where they have commanded the district since 1994.